Protected
by 16Echos
Summary: Cloud's thoughts as he lies between Sephiroth and Zack. This went from being a serious fic to utter crack.Its good though please read...


Protected

**Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy. **

SephirothxZackXCloud

Cloud lay awake in the dark bedroom. The only light was coming from the window, sometime during the night the curtain had shifted probably because of the wind. Zack had obviously forgotten to close the window again. Still, Cloud found that he couldn't mind it very much right now; he was covered on both sides, protected from any breeze that flew his way.

His view out the window was, in no other words, beautiful. Well, that was obvious this _was_ Seph's apartment. Everything related and/or concerning the man was unique and special. Cloud wondered how he fit into Sephiroth's life, after all he was the most boring and plain thing out there. Just a lowly Third that was short for his height and the weakest among his comrades.

Cloud sighed as he watched to moon's reflection on the lake. He could just see the edge of the moon itself if he craned his neck. Unfortunately Sephiroth's restraining arm was stopping him from getting the whole picture, oh well. Cloud satisfied himself with knowing it was there by its reflection. Just then a Chocobo flew over the lake and landed on the bank. Cloud felt his breath stop as he stared at the majestic sight. The Chocobo was dark black in color but it obviously had some silver hair because the moon was reflecting off of it. It was the third most beautiful thing Cloud had ever seen. He watched as the Chocobo tilted its head downwards as if analyzing its own reflection then lean down and drink from the lake. He slowly exhaled.

And the Chocobo froze. Cloud stopped in mid-exhale, and then frowned as the bird took off. He looked at the spot where the bird had been and let his mouth fall into a sad frown. If his lovers had been awake to see it they would have probably hunted the same exact bird down and force it to drink from the pond just so Cloud would stop his heartbreaking expression. For a long time Cloud didn't look away from the spot, it was too rare that you saw a sight like that in SOLDIER, to witness something like that was truly precious. Cloud was happy that he had been awake to see it.

Finally tilting his head away Cloud nuzzled his face into Zack's neck. Looking out the window for an undetermined amount of time was making his neck ache; it would probably cause him more trouble in the morning. Cloud tried to stretch his neck out in hopes to rid himself of the kinks and only succeeded in causing Zack to shuffle in his sleep and pull Cloud further down into his body. Sephiroth adjusted his arm accordingly as Cloud's eyebrow twitched. Even in sleep they were coordinated with each other.

The small SOLDIER eased himself away from Zack's body making sure that he never fully pulled away, he already knew the consequences of that. The one time he had decided that sleep just wasn't going to come and he could be doing something more productive than lying between Sephiroth and Zack was the last time he had ever considered leaving their hold when they were both unconscious. As he had pulled away from Zack and moved Seph's arm away, gently of course, both of his lovers had sat straight up in bed as soon as they felt his warmth disappear and tackled him to the floor. Apparently they were under the notion that 'someone was trying to take him away'. After icing the bruises he got from being tackled to the floor by two giant SOLDIERS Cloud made sure to yell at his two chastened lovers and grumble his way back to bed. There was no way in hell that he would ever make the same mistake again.

Cloud sighed and turned over in the mess of hands, so he was lying on his back. And immediately felt caged in. Sephiroth's arm was resting on Zack's stomach and Zack had his arm thrown over Sephiroth's shoulder. There was a barrier between Cloud and the rest of the world created by his own two protectors. Under the two arms caging him in Cloud frowned. They weren't _caging_ him; it was just how they slept. Why was this bothering him now?

He looked at the two arms and considered them, it was the first time that he had actually been awake this long after their nightly activities. Usually he was the first one asleep not caring about who he snuggled into as long as there _was_ someone. Zack often joked that he would snuggle with ShinRa himself if given the chance. Sephiroth would usually shudder at this statement and pull Cloud closer. It was a protective thing. They just cared about him, that's why. Cloud reassured himself. That's why he always slept in the middle, usually waking up underneath two heavy bodies that weren't to the point of crushing but not exactly comfortable. There had only been a few times that Cloud had woken up before Zack or Sephiroth and had felt the weight bearing down on him. In his groggy state of awareness he hadn't complained and they both had woken up after feeling him stir.

Or maybe he was completely off and they just thought he was weak or something. _Or maybe you're being bipolar because you have nothing better to do. Go to sleep! _And great now he was fighting with himself. Perhaps he shouldn't have had the coffee before bed. _But it was warm, and I was really cold…_That's no excuse! Seph and Zack were both warning you against drinking it...

Wait…Oh God he really was going insane wasn't he? Fighting with himself to get conversation, and referring to himself in third person. Cloud sighed; he really was a sad sad cadet. Well, at least it wasn't his entire fault. Sephiroth had been the one to make the coffee, and Zack had been the one to leave the coffee on the counter. But then again it had been Lieutenant Ryder's fault that he had to stay after class because the older man had misplaced his paper. Hmm…but it wasn't that cold when he had set out. Oh yeah! He had run into Reno, the redhead had just come home from a mission and had a scratch on his arm. Cloud vaguely remembered bullying the Turk into going to the medical station while Rude stood behind them and muffled snickers.

Well someone had too! What if the cut had gotten infected and Reno had lost the use of his arm? Honestly! People didn't appreciate chivalry anymore, Cloud huffed. Instantly two arms tightened over him and he was even more squished in. A tic developed in his eye and he looked at his two sleeping companions. It wasn't fair! How come they slept fine but he couldn't? Sephiroth was sleeping peacefully and lightly, and Zack was lowly snoring and moving around as usual.

Cloud debated waking them up but decided that his conscious couldn't take it if he disturbed their sleep. Well…maybe it could. He decided to try lightly. If either of them woke he would be happy but if they didn't that was ok too. Cloud decided to start with Zack because it was probably safer.

Rolling onto his side, Cloud reached up with a hand and poked Zack's cheek lightly. A light muffled noise. He poked harder. And poked again. And again. And again. And again.

54 pokes later Zack's cheek was a red color and Cloud was yawning. Finally on the 55th poke Zack stirred and woke up. Immediately he drew a hand to his cheek, which felt like it was rubbed raw. Lifting his head Zack looked around bewildered. He caught the sight of Cloud closing his eyes and watched as the small blond drifted off into sleep. Speechless, he watched as the chocobo turned and snuggled into Sephiroth and didn't lift his head again.

Now Zack couldn't sleep.

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